Oscaf2 Contains Two CRM Domains and Is Necessary for Chloroplast
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Shen et al. BMC Plant Biology (2020) 20:381 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-020-02593-z RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access OsCAF2 contains two CRM domains and is necessary for chloroplast development in rice Lan Shen1†, Qiang Zhang1†, Zhongwei Wang2, Hongling Wen1, Guanglian Hu1, Deyong Ren1, Jiang Hu1, Li Zhu1, Zhenyu Gao1, Guangheng Zhang1, Longbiao Guo1, Dali Zeng1 and Qian Qian1* Abstract Background: Chloroplasts play an important role in plant growth and development. The chloroplast genome contains approximately twenty group II introns that are spliced due to proteins encoded by nuclear genes. CAF2 is one of these splicing factors that has been shown to splice group IIB introns in maize and Arabidopsis thaliana. However, the research of the OsCAF2 gene in rice is very little, and the effects of OsCAF2 genes on chloroplasts development are not well characterized. Results: In this study, oscaf2 mutants were obtained by editing the OsCAF2 gene in the Nipponbare variety of rice. Phenotypic analysis showed that mutations to OsCAF2 led to albino leaves at the seeding stage that eventually caused plant death, and oscaf2 mutant plants had fewer chloroplasts and damaged chloroplast structure. We speculated that OsCAF2 might participate in the splicing of group IIA and IIB introns, which differs from its orthologs in A. thaliana and maize. Through yeast two-hybrid experiments, we found that the C-terminal region of OsCAF2 interacted with OsCRS2 and formed an OsCAF2-OsCRS2 complex. In addition, the N-terminal region of OsCAF2 interacted with itself to form homodimers. Conclusion: Taken together, this study improved our understanding of the OsCAF2 protein, and revealed additional information about the molecular mechanism of OsCAF2 in regulating of chloroplast development in rice. Keywords: OsCAF2, CRM domain, Intron splicing, Chloroplast development, Rice Background encoded polymerases (PEPs) and nucleus-encoded poly- Chloroplasts are necessary organelles for plant growth merases (NEPs) play key roles in regulating chloroplast and development, as they biosynthesize carbohydrates development. These studies suggest that expressions of through the fixation of CO2 [1, 2]. Chloroplasts are de- chloroplast genes require proteins encoded by the nu- rived from proplastids and are semiautonomous organ- clear genome [5, 6]. These proteins are involved in the elles [3]. The chloroplast genome is small and encodes transcription and post-transcription modification of approximately 100 proteins responsible largely for chloroplast related genes, such as chloroplast DNA repli- photosynthesis, carbon metabolism, and fatty acid syn- cation, RNA transcription, RNA editing, RNA stability, thesis [4]. Many studies have indicated that plastid- and RNA splicing [6]. The process of RNA splicing occurs by removing in- * Correspondence: [email protected] † trons from the precursor messenger mRNA (pre-mRNA) Lan Shen and Qiang Zhang contributed equally to this work. to join adjacent exons [7]. In plants, the introns of 1State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology / China National Rice Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310006, China chloroplast genes are divided into two groups, known as Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. 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BMC Plant Biology (2020) 20:381 Page 2 of 11 group I and group II introns, based on their conserved pri- complex, which was required for splicing of five subgroup mary and secondary structures, as well as the splicing IIB introns from the genes ndhA, ndhB, rps12, petB,and mechanism of RNA splicing. Group II introns are further ycf3 [23, 24]. The CFM2 has four CRM domains. In maize, divided into two subgroups, subgroup IIA and subgroup ZmCFM2 was required to splice the trnL, ndhA,andycf3 IIB [7, 8]. Previous work has shown that group I and introns [26]. In A. thaliana, AtCFM2 can splice the trnL, group II introns of chloroplast genes have lost the ability ndhA,andycf3 introns, and it influences splicing of the for autocatalytic splicing, and the introns of these genes clpP intron that was absent from the maize chloroplast lose elements that were necessary for RNA-based catalytic genome [26]. Unlike other proteins contained in the CRM centers [8, 9]. Chloroplast RNA splicing requires the re- domains, CFM3 contains three CRM domains and was lo- cruitment of proteins that are encoded by nuclear genes. cated in both chloroplasts and mitochondria. In A. thali- These proteins act as splicing factors that are essential for ana, AtCFM3a was necessary for splicing of the ndhB chloroplast RNA splicing reactions [7, 10]. In Arabidopsis intron [26]. In rice, fourteen proteins containing one or thaliana, chloroplast genome contains 20 group II introns more CRM domains have been identified [7]. The oscfm3 and 1 group I intron. In maize and rice, the chloroplast mutant resulted in an albino phenotype in seedlings genome consists of 17 group II introns and one group I caused by abnormal chloroplast development. OsCFM3 intron [11]. It has been reported that many nuclear genes promotes splicing of chloroplast genes ndhB, petD,and encode proteins that act as splicing factors that are in- rps16 [26]. Previous research showed that AL2 encodes volved in the regulation of chloroplast RNA splicing. For OsCRS1, which is homologous to AtCRS1 and ZmCRS1, example, pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins and and contains three CRM domains. However, OsCRS1 pro- chloroplast RNA splicing and ribosome maturation motes splicing of group I (trnL)andgroupIIintrons (CRM) domain proteins are involved in the regulation of (atpF, rpl2, ndhA, ndhB, petD,andycf3)thatdifferfrom splicing of chloroplast gene introns [7]. the homologous proteins AtCRS1 and ZmCRS1 [11]. It Previous studies also showed that many PPR proteins has been reported that OsCAF1 contains two CRM do- participate in the splicing of group II introns in various mains that could interact with OsCRS2 via its C-terminal plant species [12, 13]. For example, in maize, ZmPPR4 region and forms the OsCAF1-OsCRS2 complex in rice. and ZmPPR5 promote intron splicing of rps12 and trnG The OsCAF1 localizes to the chloroplast and affects spli- in the chloroplast [14, 15]. In A. thaliana, AtOTP70 and cing of subgroup IIA and subgroup IIB introns [27]. The AtOTP51 are required for intron splicing of rpoC1 and function of other proteins containing the CRM domain ycf3–2 [16, 17]. In rice, WSL4 and PGL12 participate in has not been studied extensively in rice. intron splicing of rpl2 and ndhA, respectively [18, 19]. In this study, we generated an oscaf2 mutant by using Inactivation of the PPR proteins involved in chloroplast the CRISPR/Cas9 (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short intron splicing leads to abnormal chloroplast develop- Palindromic Repeats) gene-editing system and studied ment, with leaves showing chlorosis or albino seedling the role of OsCAF2 in rice chloroplast development. phenotypes [20, 21]. Our results showed that mutants of OsCAF2 lead to ab- With the exception of PPR proteins, some CRM normal chloroplast development and albino phenotypes domain-containing proteins act as splicing factors that in seedlings. Analysis of intron splicing of chloroplast regulate the splicing of chloroplast introns. It has been re- genes showed that OsCAF2 promoted the splicing of ported that the CRM domain-containing proteins influ- chloroplast subgroup IIA and subgroup IIB introns, ence chloroplast development in A. thaliana, maize, and which were necessary for chloroplast development. Simi- rice [7]. The first CRM gene, CRS1, was identified and lar to the ZmCAF2-ZmCRS2 complex, the C-terminal cloned in maize. ZmCRS1 contains three CRM domains, region of OsCAF2 interacted with OsCRS2 and formed which have high affinity and specificity in vitro for the the OsCAF2-OsCRS2 complex. Interestingly, OsCAF2 atpF intron, and they participate in intron splicing of atpF also could interact with itself through its N-terminal re- [9, 22]. ZmCAF1 and ZmCAF2 contain two CRM do- gion to form dimers that regulate chloroplast develop- mains, and each of them can interact with ZmCRS2 and ment in rice. These results demonstrate the molecular form ZmCAF1-ZmCRS2 and ZmCAF2-ZmCRS2 com- mechanism of OsCAF2 in rice chloroplast development. plexes [23]. The ZmCAF1-ZmCRS2 complex is required for the splicing of subgroup IIB introns, including rpl16, Results rps16, trnG, petD,andycf3 [24]. In A. thaliana, the Disruption of OsCAF2 function caused an albino AtCAF1-AtCRS2 complex also promoted the splicing of phenotype the rpoC1 and ClpP introns, which were absent in the According to previous studies, the gene homologous to maize chloroplast genome [25]. Furthermore, earlier stud- ZmCAF2 and AtCAF2 from maize and A. thaliana was iden- ies showed that the C-terminal region of ZmCAF2 can tifiedfromthericegenomeandnamedOsCAF2 (LOC_ interact with ZmCRS2 to form the ZmCAF2-ZmCRS2 Os01g21990)[7]. The OsCAF2 contains six exons, with a Shen et al. BMC Plant Biology (2020) 20:381 Page 3 of 11 total coding region of 1824 bp, which encodes 608 amino Expression analysis of chloroplast development and acids.